Inner harbour upgrade starts

News

Inner harbour upgrade starts

Visions of a vibrant inner harbour precinct will start being realised when the first phase of construction begins this week.

The construction work consists of a new carpark adjacent to the Plunket building, redeveloping the Works carpark, and the Crawford and Esplanade road ends. Native trees will be planted, new lighting and a pedestrian connection to Rakaiatane Road to better connect the inner harbour to Titirangi and the Cook Landing Site.

Chief executive Nedine Thatcher Swann sees the inner harbour construction as a vital milestone in the Tairawhiti Navigations project “After years of consultation and designs, this is where the delivery of Tairawhiti Navigations starts”

Construction will cause some disruption to Crawford Road between the Works and Plunket. Pedestrian access via Hirini Street will be closed with temporary access and traffic management in place for The Works and Plunket for 4 - 6 weeks. This is to ensure the safety of the public and contractors.

Phase one construction is expected to be completed in May, with phase 2 starting in October.

“Once we’ve completed the carparks and Crawford Road area, we’ll work on upgrading the Esplanade and waterfront later in the year” said Ms Thatcher Swann.

“We’ve scheduled construction to start after the Bay Bonanza fishing competition, to minimise disruption to planned events around the inner harbour”

Eastland Port manager Andrew Gaddum is pleased with progress so far. “The vision for the inner harbour is to transform the area into a vibrant waterfront precinct and we're excited to see this partnership project become a reality.”

Inner harbour construction work will be completed by Siteworx Civil at a cost of $2m.

Utility upgrades

Work also includes the replacement of the water pipe in front of the Works restaurant and the wastewater pipes along the Esplanade from Crawford to Wainui roads and Hirini Street.

Work should start in February and will take one week for the water pipe and 10 weeks for the wastewater upgrades.

“This work will help to improve the infrastructure that serves our city and will reduce infiltration into the wastewater system through joints and cracks.”

“There’s a lot of work happening over the next few months to improve our inner harbour. It will cause some disruption, but it’s important we take full advantage of the dry season construction periods to deliver projects on time and on budget” said Ms Thatcher Swann.

Government funding

In December, funding from the Ministry of Business Innovation and Employment granted $1.27m funding to the Navigations project through the Tourism Infrastructure Fund.

$780k of this funding will be used to fund the carpark upgrades in the inner harbour as an important cruise ship destination. $490k will go towards track and carpark upgrades on Titirangi.

The inner harbour precinct will serve as a central hub for the Tairawhiti Navigations experience, which has a 4km historic interpretations trail from Oneroa to the top of Titirangi.

Mayor Meng Foon is excited by the new developments, “This is a game changer.”